Today was packed, and we started the day at the University of Sao Paulo e-waste recycling research facility, CEDIR. We had a chance to directly confront the challenges of WEEE recycling, where knowledge of material separation is scarce, and almost all waste must be sent abroad for processing.
Later our friend Miguel, the founder of design firm CAOS Focado, introduced us to his projects and partners at the Vila Nova Esperança favela. We had a short stop along the way to meet Antonio, a recycling middle-man, before continuing on to the community in the far west of Sao Paulo. The town leader, Lia, was very generous with her time and spent hours talking about the achievements, challenges, and history of the favela and herself. Her efforts have made Vila Nova Esperança the first adopter among the neighboring towns for design challenges, sustainable gardening, social media integration and so much more. In fact, we first saw Lia as she was managing the construction of a new playground.
Miguel is working on another of these projects: through the MIT D-Lab and IDDS, he has helped build an innovation center in the heart of the town, right across from Lia's general store. A whiteboard calendar lists upcoming crafting workshops based on ideas from the community. One of the best assets of the facility is the instructor and John Lennon doppelgänger, Taipei. An engineer by training, we chatted with him at the end of the day, as he finished hand-wiring a battery pack for a remote controlled airplane. At 5, he closed the shop, and hopped on his skateboard to begin the 2 hour commute across Sao Paulo back home.
Later our friend Miguel, the founder of design firm CAOS Focado, introduced us to his projects and partners at the Vila Nova Esperança favela. We had a short stop along the way to meet Antonio, a recycling middle-man, before continuing on to the community in the far west of Sao Paulo. The town leader, Lia, was very generous with her time and spent hours talking about the achievements, challenges, and history of the favela and herself. Her efforts have made Vila Nova Esperança the first adopter among the neighboring towns for design challenges, sustainable gardening, social media integration and so much more. In fact, we first saw Lia as she was managing the construction of a new playground.
Miguel is working on another of these projects: through the MIT D-Lab and IDDS, he has helped build an innovation center in the heart of the town, right across from Lia's general store. A whiteboard calendar lists upcoming crafting workshops based on ideas from the community. One of the best assets of the facility is the instructor and John Lennon doppelgänger, Taipei. An engineer by training, we chatted with him at the end of the day, as he finished hand-wiring a battery pack for a remote controlled airplane. At 5, he closed the shop, and hopped on his skateboard to begin the 2 hour commute across Sao Paulo back home.